Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1909.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 17 September 1909, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail. FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1909.

will be to make incarceration more objectionable to the continued and habitual wrong-doer, while it will go far to relieve the distress of those who suffer im-. prisonment for the first time, and will do much to effect lasting reform. Ifte new reformatory will also be the means of conenetrating the whole of yiie.-M' male prisoners of Xew South Wale* .-wu-h. sendees justifying their rcniov*j $;oia, country districts. In addition, the riew premises will also enoble the modern idea of supplying tho prisoners with out-door w»Tk, Such as gardening, to be carrjea The development of tho uew system and reformatory will be watched with great interest in New ZealßM, wheref however Dr Fiadlay may have attempted; to solye the problem of. prison reform-, mUcli tfemains to be done, especially with regard to the classifica-, tioft of juvenile and female The most we have reached at present is the outdoor prison camp for good-con-duct convicts and they have not always proved a pronounced success As y> classification, the greatest height W« hav 6 attained is to .sacrifico non-trinunal ohildrou for the rake of criminal, vicious or incorrigible waifs, who are b U(l ?^° into our industrial schools m order thnt thoir identity may be sunk. Jhe result* havo not been, and are not, satis factory ; and while >v« may have separate wings «» *emaU prßMtm « «« ! gaols, a properly constituted and op-w---aste reformatory prison is yet a, drenm ot tho futurei ' . „ „

REFORMATORY PRISONS.

THE SYSTEM IN NEW SOUTH WALES. FROM time to time hi this 'coluitin teferonce has been made k> the experiments with a modern reformatory system of prisons being carried out in New South Wales under the control of Captain Neitertstein. the State Comptroller-General. Even in the early stages the results were found to be satisfactory; but now it is considered that the experimental period is past and that proved success justifies the maintenance of an establishment where the system mny be in operation without the hindrances W obsolete buildings, lack et spatie-, ami Want of fund*. ,■ O&nse^uently, the New South Wales Gove.rHinent has' founded the Little Bay Reformatory, near Sydney, and for the future all female offenders in the State will bo concentrated there., It is the proud boast of New South Wales that, throughout' .the .Southern Hemisphere she is jacknowtedge'd as lead, ing in the van of prison refof nv, jLil'd that the system in vogue is characterised by a measure of cnlightenod enterprise I that has attracted the attention of many other parts of the Empire desirous of profiting by Capain Neitenstein's successful experiments in prison methods. The comprehensive methods entered upon some time ago ore being steadily developed, and already many striking features dieffrentiato the New South Wales system from all others still in force in the rest of Australia. One of the most important of these features is the fact that the reformative side of treatment is kept consistently uppermost. "Our object," Captain Neitenstein has frequently observed, "is to reform rather than punish." And he is carrying out this principle without at all weakening the punitive and deterrent influences of imprisonment. As explained in previous articles, the reformatory system in New South Wales requires classification as its essence. In the case of all female prisoners, and of all male prisoners under 25 '-ears of age at the time of conviction, the sentence, provided it be of sufficient length, is divided into three parts. The first of these forms the ponal Etage, where by good conduct, seli-di6ciplhie, and industry, a prisoner is able to rise by profrreesivo steps to the top of tho grade. The second is the intermediate stage, where tho conditions of gaol life are Eomewhat relaxed, so as to prepare the subject for liberty. In the third stage there is release to employment, subject to a protective control and to conditions which are adapted to hold Up those of weak moral fibre, and assist them to resist the temptations to go astray that are bound to assail them. Misconduct renders the offender liable at any time to be returned to the first stage. » • •<••• The results, of the new method already are very apparent. In bridging over the hitherto abrupt passage from detention to liberty much has gained in the work of reformation j but statistics are more convincing than mere words in considering the effect of Captain Nflitenstein's prison reform. Thirty years ago, at the close of 1878, there were 1801 prisoners in the State out of a poulation of 693,743— one person in every 385 being in goal ! At the close of last year there were 1500 imprisoned out of a general population of 1,605,032— 0r only one out of 1070! A steady diminution in the number of prisoners, and the return to gaol of fewer ex-prisoners , ara results which prove a distinct effectiveness in the reformative and' deterrent endeavours that are a feature of th© prison system of New South Wales. To crown his efforts, within the last few years Captain Neitenstein has been carrying out a scheme of reorganisation, making. for economy. A large number of gaol establishments have been closed, and there are now 299 fewer officers in the New South Wales Prisons Department than there were some time ago. Io 'enable up-to-date systems to be eonlucted to the best advantage, however, t is necessary that there should bo up-to-late prisons, and from Darlinghurst and Serrima, to the smaller gaols, all OTeiOf ibsolete designs, erected at different! times >y administrators with differing? and leterogeneous views. Captain NeTtcntein at last has secured a prison which an be regarded as one of the most up-o-date in the world. It is in all repecte a model of what a modern prison hould be — the Stabs Reformatory for Vomen, at Little Bay, .which, on 25th It., was proclaimed as a female prison, 'o this building the female prisoners at iathurst, Biloela, and Darlinghurst nre ) be- transferred, and here they will be rought under the most modern ideas of aol life. As already indicated, reformaon will be the chief aim. The treattent in many respects will be the -most nportent feature in connection with tho perations of the Prisons Department, nd instead of three staffs only one will a needed. ■ The new Reformatory at Little Bay, in le Sydney district, has room for 300 >male prisoners. It is thoroughly up-)-date, and complies with the most capons desires of. the modern prison reamer. The greatest possible caro has sen taken to keep separata the different asses of' inmates, so" that the young id ■innocent girls^.wjll- be protected from ie contaminating, /influences of older id more' experienced prisoners. The'ar-; mgements of the hall /and yards will itually 'permit of /12 different',;cla£6in-; itions being- .made. The general e.f: ict '.of. the .treattfjent ,ijC-.#64BS#M«>£ jr^--^V'-'-*W^'- : .- i -"*-> : -"ii-/ .•.'■."•■•■,■<